Successful meetings have an established format. A format that is the same for every meeting allows the group to quickly take care of critical, mundane business, leaving the majority of the time to work on important agenda items.

Part 1: Meeting Startup

• Be sure meeting inputs are prepared and at the meeting
• Introduce any guests or new members to the group
• Verify that a quorum exists
• Review the group's goals and progress on the goals
• Agree on the meeting's desired outcomes
• Finalize the meeting agenda, including asking for any new agenda items
• Prioritize the agenda items with items requiring the most participation coming first; estimate times for each agenda item

Part 2: Meeting Body

• Proceed through the prioritized list of agenda items
• Summarize agreed-upon actions items and decisions as they are made
• Reports
• Announcements

Part 3: Meeting Wrap-up

• Summarize all action items and decisions
• Plan next meeting; desired outcomes, agenda items, and any meeting inputs
• Identify roles and responsibilities for next meeting; meeting leader, recorder, etc.
• Critique the meeting and overall teamwork

Part 4: Follow-up and Preparation for Next Meeting

• Prepare and distribute minutes of the meeting

References:
• Small Business Administration

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